OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A Republican teacher and pastor says he will run against U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, a seven-term GOP congressman from Moore.
James Taylor of Norman filed paperwork this week with the Federal Election Commission indicating he plans to run.
Taylor says in a statement that Cole is not conservative enough and criticized the longtime GOP heavyweight for what he described as Cole's "liberal votes."
Taylor is the pastor of Christ's Church in Norman and a teacher at Roosevelt Middle School in Norman.
Cole was elected in 2002 and has easily won re-election six times to the 4th District seat in south-central Oklahoma that includes Ada, Ardmore, Duncan, Lawton-Fort Sill and Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City.
Cole won nearly 85 percent of the vote over a GOP challenger in 2014.